The Quarantine Room
by WillowEchoRiver
Summary: Vala is in quarantine, after meeting with Jacek, who was seriously ill with a fatal disease. Rated K. A Daniel/Vala oneshot!


**Author's Note: I've written a lot of D/V fanfictions where the two get into an argument, because, let's face it, they argue a lot :) But there's something else that happens a lot between them that I haven't ever written about, or at least I think so, and that is that they really **_**care**_** about each other. So I just wanted to write a bittersweet little piece about them taking care of each other :) I hope it's not lame, and I hope you enjoy it :) I'm a sucker for D/Vness! So this is just a little tender moment for Daniel and Vala :)**

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate.

The Quarantine Room,  
  
"I don't think this is such a good idea, Doctor Jackson." General Landry cautioned, "You know what Carolyn thinks."

"I know sir, but she shouldn't be alone right now." Daniel said, nodding. He knew the risks. He didn't _make_ impulsive decisions, he'd thought this through, and he was starting to wonder if he should've made the choice earlier.

"You understand that this is dangerous. She could be contagious." Carolyn Lam pointed out to him.

"We don't even know if she was infected, yet." Daniel pointed out, "But I'm going in there," He was decided, they could see it was so. There wasn't any way to convince him.

~*~*~*~*~

Vala sat on the ground in the small white room, her eyes closed as she leaned her head against the wall, she'd taken a break from pacing about the room. She'd been in that room for the past two hours.

When Jacek had sent a message to her at the SGC, _something_ had possessed her to meet with him, though she wasn't sure what it was. But he'd been sick and had been brought back to the base. Vala didn't know why she was wanting to help him. She was still incredibly angry at him. Just as much as she had ever been. And she'd had her consequences for trying to help him, because since she had been in direct contact with him, she now had to be in quarantine, in case she'd caught whatever he had.

But Jacek was dying. And though Vala wouldn't allow herself to acknowledge the fact that she was upset that her father was most likely not going to live through the day, she couldn't help but hope they found a cure in a miraculous amount of time.

She told herself it was so that if she had caught Jacek's illness, she could be cured. But she knew that wasn't the real reason she wanted them to find a cure...No matter what she told herself, she didn't want her father to die.

Even if he'd been a horrible father, even if he'd been a con artist, _even if_ much of what she had been in her life before she had joined the SGC was due to him. Some of it, at least. Of course most of it was due to Quetesh, so she couldn't blame _all_ of it on Jacek.

Vala sighed. She wished someone would tell her what was going on.

They told her she would have to be in quarantine for _at least_ twenty four hours. As if the 'twenty four hours' wasn't enough to make her cringe, the 'at least' made it far worse. Who knew how long she'd be stuck in that horrible room? That is, if she didn't get sick and _die_ first.

Alone. For twenty four hours or more. No human contact, except the occasional voice from a speaker on the other side of the room giving some bit of 'information' that wasn't informative in the slightest.

Things like, 'We're working on it,' or 'Don't worry, too much!' like they were _trying_ to be encouraging, but failing immensely.

This was truly torture.

What was worse, was that not even a voice from the intercom had come in the last half hour. It made her worry. What was it that they were putting off telling her?

She tried humming to herself a couple times, to relieve her boredom or ease her worry. But it had only echoed against the white walls and made the room seem even more empty.

She'd even tried to sleep, but that wasn't about to happen. Considering the state of agitation her mind was in. It was remarkable she could even sit still.

She let out a groan, but she looked up when she heard the door to the quarantine room open with a soft sound she had _definitely_ not expected to hear. "Daniel?" She asked, surprised. Even though her voice was soft, it seemed to echo loudly in the emptiness of the room. "What are you doing here?" She asked, with a great deal of confusion, as Daniel sat next to her on the floor of the room. (Vala didn't know why she'd chosen the uncomfortable seat on the floor, anyway, when they'd supplied the room with chairs.)

Daniel shrugged, "I just didn't think you should be alone." He said, he didn't want to make a big deal about his choice to come sit with her, because not some of the closest friends would do that. The other members of SG1 cared about Vala very much, and were great friends, but they didn't have the slightest intention of coming to sit with her in quarantine for another twenty-two hours or more. No, Daniel had come to be with Vala because of feelings that were much more then friendship, which is why he didn't want to dwell on the subject and give any hint of it.

There was silence for a moment, but Daniel could see Vala's thankfulness for his presence written all over her face. Though it was evident that she was still agitated. After a moment, where she was afraid to ask what she needed to, she said softly, "You came here...Because..." She broke off for a moment, and looked at Daniel in the eyes. "He's dead. Isn't he?" Vala asked, knowing the answer before he gave it.

Daniel hesitated for a long moment, before answering, "Yeah," He was sad for Vala's sake. He knew her, and he knew that she would try to convince all of them, including herself, that she didn't care that Jacek had died. But he was her father, and despite everything, Daniel knew that Vala could not _help_ but love her father. In the same way she couldn't help but love her daughter, even though she had never yet admitted that she cared for Adria. Daniel knew she did. He knew that Vala was willing to stop Adria, whether or not it meant killing her, because there were greater things at stake, but he also knew that it hurt her.

Vala's eyes shut tightly, when she heard the answer, even though it had been what she expected. She was filled with a pain she couldn't understand. Why should she mourn Jacek? Hadn't he been an awful father? Though a father, nonetheless. Didn't she have those little trinkets from alien planets he had brought her when she was a child? Weren't they all still hidden under her bed? But what did she care, about Jacek? He'd been awful. He'd tricked her time and time again, and yet she was having a hard time fighting back the tears.

Daniel's arm went around Vala's shoulders, a loving and sympathetic gesture. He pulled her closer to him and she leaned her head on his shoulder and held onto his hand with both of hers. There was none of the usual flirtatiousness in her response to him, only gratefulness for his comfort. She could be sick with whatever had killed Jacek, and yet he had come in here and risked himself to comfort her. She'd known friends to risk their lives to save each other, in her time at the SGC. This was different. Because Daniel was risking his life just to make sure that she wasn't alone to bear the news of her father's death. To make sure she wasn't alone to bear whatever sickness she may have caught from him.

They stayed that way, for quite some time. Both were silent, but it wasn't an uncomfortable, awkward silence. It was a sweet, yet painful, understanding sort of silence. Like there was no purpose in speaking, because each knew that the other was there. Vala knew Daniel was there to help her through whatever pain she refused to acknowledge, and Daniel had the comfort of knowing he was sitting besides Vala. Not just the normal, every day at work, Vala. But the hurting, _real_ Vala. Even if she was trying to convince herself she shouldn't care about Jacek's death, it wasn't because she was being fake. It was because she truly didn't understand why she should be hurting by it.

Daniel felt lucky to be sitting beside her, to be _needed_ by her. And so it stayed for hours. The long hours were so much less unpleasant to Vala, knowing that she had Daniel by her side. Even if she was filled with a grief she couldn't understand.

"Do you remember that time you were telling me about your wife, Daniel? You told me you understood how I felt about Adria, because of what happened to her?" Vala asked, breaking the very long silence.

Daniel nodded, "Yeah, I remember." He said, looking down at her. He didn't ask her to continue, he just waited patiently, knowing he should give her time to express her thoughts without being pressed.

"I wish she hadn't died. You don't deserve that." Vala said quietly.

"It hurt, but I'm alright now." He assured her, he squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry about your father, Vala."

"He was just Jacek, Daniel, he was never a father." She said, stiffening up when he mentioned it. But he couldn't just let it go, he felt it was important for Vala to identify her own feelings. Even if it hurt a little.

"I know you want to be strong, Vala, but sometimes it takes strength just to admit things hurt. It's okay, you know? He might not have been a real great dad, but he was your father. It's okay to hurt."

Vala didn't answer, but the way she buried her face in his shoulder, and hung a little more tightly to his hand. He could see she had understood. That she had appreciated, had agreed. Even if she couldn't say it out loud, Daniel felt that Vala had been able to admit to herself she had cared for her father, and he was incredibly proud of her for that.

"Thank you for coming in here with me, Daniel." Vala said after another long pause and she meant it. As she leaned on his shoulder, she couldn't have asked for any better comfort.

Vala felt that at this moment, even in the long silences, the two had reached a sort of understanding of each other. And something about the way Daniel held her close, made her feel safe enough to say words she had been hiding for so long. She just felt safe with him, a peacefulness in the midst of a great deal of pain. "Daniel..."

"Yes?" He said gently,

"I think I'm in love with you." She said, after a short pause, continuing to lean against his shoulder. "No ones ever been able to make me really love them before, totally without meaning to, too. Daniel, you are something special."

The fact that he didn't grimace or pull away was a surprise enough to Vala, because that's what she'd expected, almost.

What he said surprised both of them even more. Because for some reason, he was feeling just as safe with her as she was feeling with him.

"I think I'm in love with you too."

He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Author's Note: So, as you probably guessed, they didn't get sick and die. Just wanted to leave it there :) Hope you enjoyed, please review! **


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